The 2019 Exit Surf Men's Canterbury Surf Champs
We have been the principal sponsor of this event for the past couple of years and we are so stoked to be involved. This year the contest took place in two locations: North New Brighton and Taylor's Mistake. With the forecast looking less than favourable, event organisers opted to push through and run the usual 3 day event in just two days.
Day 1
Friday saw the competition kick off at the North Wai Boardriders club-rooms located in North New Brighton. Competitors were greeted to glassy waves in the 2-3ft range with a light offshore wind, this quickly changed however with a stiff northeasterly kicking up shortly after the first heats hit the water. Although conditions were less than ideal the surfing that took place was top notch. Some of the best surfers from around the country were in attendance and battled it out across 8 divisions. Standouts from the day included Gisborne Surfer Maz Quinn, Piha's Zen Wallis and Jack Lee from Whakatane.
Day 2
Day 2 Started off with an early call to move 15 minutes south to Taylors Mistake Beach. It's the first time the contest has run there in the last 5 years. Strong winds kicked up first thing looking like competitors were in for another solid day of onshore surfing. It wasn't until lunch time though that things started looking up, an increase in swell and decrease in wind saw conditions drastically improve and the level of surfing jumped up another notch.
Full Surfing New Zealand Press Release
By the end of the day it was Gisborne surfer Maz Quinn who claimed his second win of the 2019 New Zealand Surf Series with some outstanding surfing.
The win has elevated Quinn to second overall on the national rankings at a time when the 42-year-old has semi stood back from competition, competing in select events throughout the year.
Quinn posted a considerable 15.7 point heat total in the final with his biggest challenge coming from Dunedin’s Elliott Brown finishing on 13.8 points. Ultimately his was Quinn’s experience and precision that pipped the electric surfing of the goofy-footed Brown.
For Brown, it is his second finals appearance in as many weeks after a third place finish last weekend. Brown also finished runner up at the Exit Surf Canterbury Championships in 2018 and the 19-year-old continues to search for his maiden New Zealand Surf Series win.
Raglan surfer Caleb Cutmore finished third this weekend and now sits third on the New Zealand rankings heading into the next event at his home break next weekend.
Christchurch surfer Connor McLennan finished fourth in the Open Men’s Division final.
Brown and McLennan featured in the final of the Under 20 Boys Division, this time Brown getting the win with an impressive 16.4 point heat total but McLennan had to settle for another fourth place finish. Wedged between them were Piha’s Shane Kraus and Christchurch surfer Neko Tohiariki who finished in second and third.
Day-one standout Jack Lee continued his form in the Under 18 Boys Division to take his first win of the season in the division. Lee has finalled at every event he has contested this season with three runner-up finishes to his name. The Whakatane surfer posted a 14.9 point heat total in the final which was enough to eclipse his good friend Caleb Cutmore who finished in second. Double finalist Jayden Willoughby (Rag) finished in third with Jai Oakley (Chch) in fourth.
Gisborne took their second win of the event in the Under 16 Boys Division with Finn Vette claiming a close win over Willoughby 13.6 vs 13.2. Vette’s win along with a third from his Dad Andrew in the Over 45 Division was enough for the father-son family combo to claim the Jeffery Mckerras family performance award.
The first of four Christchurch titles went to Jack Tyro in the Under 14 Boys Division, the 12-year-old claiming his maiden national victory in a close match-up over an all-Christchurch line-up of Jack McKenzie Rakiatia Tau and Thomas Robertson.
Rodney Somogyvari claimed the Over 30 Men’s Division while Mike Oakley claimed the Over 45 Men’s Division.
Hugh Ritchie claimed his second straight win in the Longboard Division and with his fast-paced finish, claimed the overall win for the 2019 New Zealand Longboard Series leap-frogging previous rankings leader Zen Wallis (Piha) who finished third in the final. William Wallace (Dun) finished runner up in the final with Nick Black (Chch) finishing in fourth place.
Once again we'd like to express how stoked we are to be a part of this event and would also like to thank the other Sponsors: Eruption Brewery, Make Collective, Pier Lodge, Mainland Foundation, Dave Carpet Installation, Dan Hillier Design, Against the Grain, Signmark, Robertson & Mckenzie Families and North Wai Boardriders.
